Re: [orca-list] Ot: does anyone have a certification from the Linux foundation?

[John Heim <john johnheim net>]

But surely you don't think it's unfair for states to require a person to 
go to medical school in order to be a doctor, do you? You just can't 
learn everything you need to know to do something like manage a research 
cluster on your own. It's not practical. You don't dismiss the value of 
finishing high school, do you? So why are you drawing an arbitrary line 
at high school? The world is getting more and more complicated every 
day. It just takes more than 4 years of high school to learn everything 
you need to know. Heck, I use what I learned in English class in college 
practically every day. I write a better grant proposal because of the 
writing classes I took in college.



On 03/10/2016 04:47 PM, Alex Midence wrote:
> I think you and I are addressing two separate issues here.  The point I'm trying to make is that I find it 
> unwise for a hiring manager to make a degree a sort of trump card on deciding who to hire instead of giving 
> due consideration and weight to other indicators like professional licenses and certifications along with 
> pre-employment aptitude assessments that someone has the knowledge and skill to do the job for which they are 
> hiring.  It was something of a protest to your statement that you needed a degree to be a sysadmin at a 
> university or school if you even wanted to try and get one of those positions in your area.  Not against you, 
> but against whoever makes these kinds of hiring decisions.  It struck me as a rather narrow-minded policy on 
> the part of such institutions who could otherwise find people who would do a perfectly good job as long as 
> they were shown to have certifications, knowledge and experience since I really don't think you need a 
> four-year degree to learn how to manage a linux server.  I am in no way seeking to dissuade somebody from 
> getting a college degree if that is their inclination, however.  Every edge you can get as a blind person 
> should be pursued if possible.  Rather, I am also making the point that there are other, less time consuming 
> proofs of proficiency which can be obtained that can serve as a substitute in certain fields when coupled 
> with experience if a degree is not a viable plan of action to pursue at the time.  I've met IT professionals 
> who didn't have degrees but did have Cisco, CompTIA, Microsoft and other such certifications who did a fine 
> job at their company and made pretty decent money.
>
> Of course, if you are hiring a molecular biologist, actuary, lawyer or neurosurgeon, or if you are looking 
> for someone to design your building, ensure the structural soundness of it or make sure the company you will 
> be running in it does so within the confines of your state or country's laws, you really want to get some 
> degreed professionals as those are pretty specialized jobs that can't be learned in the six months or year 
> that it would take someone to get a non-college certification.
>
> I'm sorry if I gave you the impression that I find degrees to be useless or unimportant.  They are neither.  
> They are also not the only indicators of someone's potential to do a good job at an organization though.
>
> Regards,
> Alex M
> -----Original Message-----
> From: orca-list [mailto:orca-list-bounces gnome org] On Behalf Of John Heim
> Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2016 8:19 AM
> To: B. Henry; orca-list gnome org
> Subject: Re: [orca-list] Ot: does anyone have a certification from the Linux foundation?
>
> Right, believe me, I understand that you have to play the hand life deals you. I've gotten into that debate 
> on other lists as well. Far too many blind people think that if anyone isn't as successful as they are, it's 
> their own fault. It doesn't matter what level of success that is. I have seen guys on SSDI trash other  
> people for being on SSDI. I'm not doing that. I just want to fight this perception that a college degree 
> isn't particularly useful. That is just totally wrong. If you want to get into a STEM field (science, 
> technology, engineering, and mathematics), a degree is very important.
>
>
> On 03/09/2016 04:33 PM, B. Henry wrote:
> > The problem is that some folks just could not swing it for one reason
> > or another, and how to go back to college both time and money wise later in life can be very challenging to 
> > say the least.
> > Not finishing highschool is pretty dumb in most cases, and if you are
> > bright enough to not need it then you should be able to finish an adult ed highschool program in weeks I'd 
> > think.
> > Anyway, the only reason I even chimed in on this at all is that I did
> > hear reports, think on business news about several major companies dropping degree requirements for many 
> > positions. I'm talking mjor i.t. players, but do not remember which ones.
> > Come to think of it they may have been talking more developers/coders
> > than admins also, and I can see where it'd be more likely that someone
> > might not pick up on some of the skills they need on their own when it comes to some aspects of 
> > administration. The sikill set is a bit more diverse than that for programming I'd say.
> >         
> --
> John Heim
> john johnheim com
>
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--
John Heim
john johnheim com